Monday, August 31, 2015

But in my time
as a staffer, there was no man, other than Coats himself, for whom I acquired
more respect than a senator whose worldview in elemental ways was almost
exactly the opposite of my own: Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York…… He wrote
in 1965 that“The fundamental problem … is that of family structure. The
evidence—not final but powerfully persuasive—is that the Negro family in the
urban ghettos is crumbling.” On the day his report was released, about one
quarter of black kids were living only with their mothers. Moynihan called this
a crisis, as indeed it was, but 50 years on between 70 and 75 percent of all
black Americans are now born out of wedlock, a tripling of the trend Moynihan
had spotted. More than half of Hispanic children are also born out of wedlock
today, and 29 percent of white babies. (Editor’s Note: In 1965 white
illegitimacy was around 2%. RK)…… according to the 2010 census, for the first time
in American history more than half of all babies born to American women 30
years of age and under were born out of wedlock. In 1995, looking back at his
four decades in public life, Moynihan was asked what had been the biggest
transformation he had observed: “The biggest change, in my judgment, is that
the family structure has come apart all over the North Atlantic world.”……..To Read More......

Sunday, August 30, 2015

The Hypocrisy of Denver's War on Chick-fil-A- In Denver, city council members are weighing whether Chick-fil-A will
be allowed to open in the Denver International Airport. Denver council member
Paul Lopez “called opposition to the chain at DIA ‘really, truly a moral
issue,'” according to the Denver
Post, while council member Robin Kniech is alarmed about Chick-fil-A’s
“corporate profits used to fund and fuel discrimination.” “Ten of the 13
[Denver city council] members attended Tuesday’s meeting, and none rose to
defend Chick-fil-A, although some didn’t weigh in,” reported the Post. Chick-fil-A’s
crime? Well, back in 2012—when 48 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage,
according to Gallup—Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy spoke out about his opposition to
gay marriage, setting off a firestorm. The fact that the CEO of a company so committed
to Christian values that it’s not even open on Sundays opposed gay marriage was
somehow shocking…..

The Government Is Fighting to Keep $167K It Seized
From Motorist - After a federal judge ordered the government return
$167,000 law enforcement seized from a motorist driving through Nevada, federal
prosecutors are fighting the decision. The U.S. attorney’s office in Reno,
Nev., filed documents with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco,
Calif., earlier this month calling on the court to revisit a decision requiring
the government to return cash it seized from Straughn Gorman several years ago.
Gorman was never charged with a crime. “The
prosecutors simply have the financial calculus [to appeal]—either pay a
six-figure attorney’s fees to Mr. Gorman or potentially win a six-figure return
if they win in the ruling and prevail,” Jason Snead, a policy analyst at The
Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal……

Meet the Man Challenging John Boehner's Speakership
- The man who made the move to overthrow House Speaker John Boehner is back
home now, shaking the hands of war veterans. He grips the hands for so long,
it’s like he is holding on for dear life. As much as he is there for them, to
reassure the veterans that their benefits are coming, they are here for him, to
stand by a leader facing a consequential moment. This is what happens when you
risk it all—friends, money, power, respect—in the name of some greater purpose…

Ann Coulter on Why Immigration Is the Only Issue That
Matters - Political commentator Ann Coulter believes that
immigration is the most important issue facing America today. If we don’t get
it right, she says, debates over economics, foreign policy, and other issues
just won’t matter. Coulter makes the case in her new book, “Adios,
America,” that it has been the goal of liberals for decades to
fundamentally transform America by bringing in millions of immigrants from
third-world countries to build their voting base. As those familiar with
Coulter know, she speaks her mind. Watch the interview to find out what she
told us.

Commentary by Erick Erickson

RIP GOP- The Republican Party has most often
come to power at times of crisis, starting with slavery. But in the great moral
crisis now, the Republican Party finds itself infested with charlatans, conmen,
louts and Donald Trump. The Republican Party of 2015 more often than not
responds to the fierce urgency of now with palms outstretched, waiting for the
highest bidder to purchase its policy positions, while running from any fight
that might get it criticized by a Washington press corps increasingly composed
of former leftwing activists masquerading as objective journalists.

After eight years of broken promises and Republican collaboration in Barack
Obama's agenda to expand government, the Grand Old Party has been confronted
with a moral evil in Planned Parenthood. Undercover, unedited videos show
Planned Parenthood officials laughing about harvesting organs from babies. The
CEO of StemExpress, a business that was willing to pay extra for 50 human baby
livers a week, bragged on film about her "socially liberal" sister
advising Republican Speaker John Boehner on health care.Boehner's response has been to call for more
investigations while keeping federal dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood. Boehner
and Mitch McConnell have kept federal dollars flowing to all areas of Obama's
agenda. From Obamacare to the IRS to Obama's immigration expansion, the
Republicans have chosen not to use any of their constitutional powers to
restrain executive overreach. Instead, they will let judges sort through
everything…….

American Thinker

At War with Reality - Nothing equals the insane attempt
by the leftist crazies to completely eliminate the distinction between men and
woman.Characterizing the opposition as insane is a
favorite tactic of the Left. To question their latest fatwa is for them an
indicator of mental derangement on the part of the inquirer. But in case you
haven’t noticed, within in the halls of academia, which once passed as the
place for rational inquiry and analysis, the real crazies are hard at work
introducing the equivalent of jabberwocky. Even language is supposed to adjust
to the current insanity of those seeking “gender equality.”

Obama, Bush, Clinton: Secret
Agents- I have thought for a while that a case could be
made that Obama was really a secret conservative, showing America what would
happen if the “progressive” agenda were ever put in place and thereby weaning
us off it forever. My friend Noemie Emery, an exceptionally astute observer of
American political history, emailed, “All politicians act like secret agents,
in the pay of the opposite side.” As I thought about it, it seemed to me her
observation had special applicability to the president, Jeb Bush, and Hillary
Clinton, though I’d certainly not rule out a wider field…. My Take – Interesting take article except it seems to me the headline
and the first paragraph seem inappropriate for the context. RK

The Hard Work of Defending
Civilization- By now, everyone knows about the three
American heroes -- two of them off-duty military personnel -- who foiled a
terrorist attack on a packed Amsterdam-to-Paris train. Armed with an AK-47, a
handgun, nine magazines of ammunition and a box cutter, the lone-wolf terrorist
opened fire. Most passengers ducked for cover. But the Americans “immediately
took action,” as The Washington Post reported,
citing the firsthand account of a British businessman. They rushed the
gunman--a Moroccan man tied to “radical Islamist movements,” according to
French officials -- subdued him by force and then began treating the wounded.
“We just did what we had to do,” said Alek Skarlatos, an Army National
Guardsman and veteran of Afghanistan. U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, who was
stabbed during the attack, said the jihadist “seemed like he was ready to fight
to the end.” But Stone added:“So
were we.” This is one of those microcosm moments that serve as a metaphor for
much larger truths. First, we are at war. The enemy is real. It is tenacious.
And it wants to kill those who oppose its death creed…..My Take – This article outlines the Bretton Woods reality which has
existed since 1944. That’s coming to an end. I will have more on this in the
near future. RK

Lawfare and Gay Marriage - A
Colorado appellate court ruled
earlier this month that Jack Phillips, the evangelical owner of Masterpiece
Cakeshop in suburban Denver, had violated the rights of a gay couple when he
declined on religious grounds to design and bake a custom wedding cake for them
in 2012-- two years before same-sex marriage was even legal in the state. (The
couple had actually married in Massachusetts.) The court ordered Phillips
to“take remedial measures, including comprehensive staff training” on how
conscientious objection must give way to anti­discrim­ination law in these
situations, and to“file quarterly compliance reports” with the state on this
mandated retraining.

Got ‘no’ milk: Feds spending $3 million to study Southern cows
- Remember the “Got Milk?” ad campaign? For dairy farmers in seven states in
the Southeast, the answer is unequivocal: No. In 1995, Tennessee had 1,544
dairy farms; it has 375 now, says University of Tennessee at Knoxville
professor of animal science Stephen Oliver. Grainger County veterinarian Mike
Tarrier, who specializes in treating cows, told Tennessee Watchdog 25 percent
of the state’s existing dairy farms will have gone out of business by 2017.
Why?....... Seven Southeastern colleges, including UT-Knoxville, divvied up the
grant money......But the researchers, part of the five-year long Southeast
Quality Milk Initiative, have to start asking the right questions……. Not one
time did they ask ‘In your opinion, why do you think dairies are going out in
the Southeast?’”

Court allows Christie to hide $1 million in Amex charges -
Based on secret evidence, a New Jersey court is allowing Gov. Chris Christie to
hide American Express bills that show how his state police security team
charged more than $1 million to pay for out-of-state travel.Judge Mary C. Jacobson dismissed a public
records suit by New Jersey Watchdog on Friday, ruling that details of past
expenses for food, lodging and transportation could create a potential security
risk for the governor in the future.“The court finds the general interest of the public to have a breakdown
pales in comparison,” said Jacobson during a hearing in Mercer County Superior
Court. As a result, state taxpayers may never learn how the money was spent.

Bureaucracy: The
Fourth branch of government.

VoIP pioneer: Supreme Court decide FCC fate - No
matter the outcome of the latest lawsuit against the Federal Communications
Commission’s net neutrality regulations, the issue has a high likelihood of
heading to the Supreme Court, says one Internet pioneer. In a recent interview
with Watchdog.org, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) pioneer Daniel Berninger
explained that he believed that if the DC appellate court were to agree with
any one of the six arguments being leveled by ISPs and entrepreneurs in the net
neutrality lawsuit, the net neutrality order would fail and the FCC’s
legitimacy would be thrown into question.

EPA

EPA withholds mine spill documents from Congress - A
congressional committee blasted the Environmental Protection Agency today for
blocking release of documents related to
the Gold King mine disaster, which poured deadly chemicals into the largest
source of drinking water in the West. “It is disappointing, but not surprising,
that the EPA failed to meet the House Science Committee’s reasonable deadline
in turning over documents pertaining to the Gold King Mine spill,” said Rep.
Lamar Smith (R-TX). “These documents are essential to the Committee’s ongoing
investigation and our upcoming hearing on Sept. 9. But more importantly, this
information matters to the many Americans directly affected in western states,
who are still waiting for answers from the EPA.”

Wyoming man challenges outrageous EPA fines - A rancher is
taking the Environmental Protection Agency to federal court, asking a judge to
stop the agency from fining him more than $16 million because he built a small
pond on his property. Andy Johnson of Fort Bridger, Wyoming says he made sure
to get the proper permits from his state government before building the pond.
After all, this is America in the 21st century, and nothing done on
your own property — certainly when it involves the use of water — is beyond
government concern Johnson is facing millions in fines from the federal
government after the EPA determined his small pond — technically a “stock pond”
to provide better access to water for animals on his ranch….

Going Green

Eagles win, wind farms and feds lose in court - Eagles —
and the people who love them — picked up a big win in court this month. How the
victory may affect the Obama administration’s desire to dramatically ramp up
wind energy production to meet its climate change goals is still unclear. “We
believe it’s very good news for eagles,” Michael
Hutchins, director of the American
Bird Conservancy’s Bird-Smart Wind Energy Program, of the Aug. 11 decision
by a federal court rescinding a controversial rule proposed by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service that granted a 30-year exemption to wind energy and other
companies for killing bald and golden eagles.“We can’t have people do
end-arounds”……Koh cited comments from Fish and Wildlife’s own staff that the
rule-making process leading to the 30-year exemptions was a “trainwreck” and
that it was a “no-brainer” the agency needed to follow the National
Environmental Policy Act.

Robert
Bryce, an energy journalist and author who has been a outspoken critic of
the effectiveness of wind energy, said the ruling is a setback for the Obama
administration.“The rationale being
used by renewable-energy promoters and the Obama administration is that future
climate change trumps today’s wildlife concerns,” Bryce wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. “Therefore, we
have to kill lots of birds and bats with turbines to save them from the
possibility of climate change.

Never mind that whatever carbon-dioxide cuts we achieve
will be swamped by soaring emissions growth in places like Brazil, India and
Indonesia.”“We’re very happy to have
wind farms, along with other forms of alternative energy like solar to address anthropogenic climate change,” Hutchins said. “But we want
it done right … That means putting (wind farms) in the right places, not
putting them in major migratory routes or sensitive habitats.”…(My Take – This guy is talking out of both
sides of his mouth.None of what he’s
suggesting is possible.First, there is
no need for wind or solar energy because anthropogenic climate change is a
fraud, and CO2 isn’t a pollutant. Secondly,there’s no way either wind or solar can supply the energy any
industrialized nation needs without turning the continent into a gigantic wind
and solar farm and that would destroy wildlife in immense numbers and
obliterate wilderness areas.RK)….“Adding
the effects of alternative energy on top of all that when it isn’t done
properly, we have a problem with that,” Hutchins said. “We would like to see
better regulation, better science applied to this. If we’re going to do
alternative energy we shouldn’t do it in a way where we’re killing hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of birds and bats each year.”

Green-energy CEO: Vermonters must abandon the car, embrace
renewable energy future - Now that Vermont has a mandate to get 75 percent
of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2032, residents will have
to ditch automobiles and embrace a whole new way of life, the state’s top
renewable energy CEO says. “We’re probably going to have to abandon the car,”
David Blittersdorf, president of All Earth Renewables, told Addison County
Democrats in a recent presentation titled “Vermont’s Renewable Energy Future.”

Company that got millions from U.S. taxpayers now profits
Chinese owners - The good news is electric car battery maker A123 Systems is finally
on track to turn a profit.The bad news
is taxpayers don’t figure to see any of the $133 million the federal government
spent and the estimated $141 million in tax credits and subsidies secured from
Michigan to help the company take off in 2009, only to see A123 Systems crash,
declare bankruptcy in 2012 and then get purchased by a privately held Chinese
conglomerate.

Home-care workers find getting out harder than getting
in union - Renee Katz has one question for the Service
Employees International Union: What part of “no” don’t you understand? “I can’t
get out of it. They want me to now do some letter and certify mail it. They
didn’t certify mail anything to me. And then every time I call or email, they
try to talk me into staying,” said Katz. The Oakdale mother works part-time as
a personal care assistant for her special needs daughter and other care
recipients through subsidized programs designed to avoid institutionalized
care. She was outraged to learn 3 percent of their gross wages would be taken
for dues
for a union she didn’t realized she joined.

Houston’s debt now
surpasses Detroit’s - Houston’s
debts are now bigger than Detroit’s. According to one key measure of fiscal health, Houston’s
situation is nearly as bad as that of Chicago, which is starting to collapse
under its debt burdens. The city’s financial reputation took a hit earlier this
month when Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook on Houston to “negative.” …..Even that review
doesn’t capture the depth of some of the holes the city’s financial planners
have dug. James Quintero, director of the Center For Local Governance at the
Texas Public Policy Foundation, says the problem is structural, that defined
benefit pension plans simply aren’t sustainable.

Texas has $81 billion in hidden debt - Texas has $81
billion in hidden debt that doesn’t show up on balance sheets, according to a new study by Truth in Accounting. This means Texas is
$62.6 billion short of the money it needs to pay its long-term bills, which the
group calculates as equal to $8,300 per taxpayer. These figures do not include
the $333 billion in bond debt run up by local government
agencies, particularly school districts. When it comes to calculating unfunded
liabilities, a few changes in assumptions can produce wildly different figures,
so we took a closer look at Truth in Accounting’s numbers. The surprise here is
that, if anything, Truth in Accounting is understating the magnitude of the
problem.The group pulls its figures
from the state’s annual financial reports, which for this year only are
calculated using different rules than the state’s pension funds. The pension
funds have started using new accounting rules that showed the old accounting understated pension debts
by half.

Labor union bosses stand up for Planned Parenthood -
Americans are divided on taxpayer funding of abortion, but union bosses remain
staunch supporters. With a Planned Parenthood scandal in the news, two of the
nation’s most powerful labor union leaders have stuck their necks out to defend
the network of abortion clinics. This is no surprise where Service Employees
International Union is concerned — SEIU executive vice president Kirk Adams is married to
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. Adams’s boss, SEIU president
Mary Kay Henry, expressed her support for Planned Parenthood and bashed Planned
Parenthood’s “extremist” critics Tuesday.

City employees feasting on tax dollars - Taxpayers in March
2014 spent $15,041 to cater the Denver employee recognition awards and another
$1,744 for table coverings and center pieces for the annual ceremony at the Denver Center for the
Performing Art.About 300 employees
attended the 5281 Employee Recognition Awards, records obtained by Watchdog.org
show.Five months later, taxpayers paid
at least another $15,000 for barbecue at the annual City Spirit employee recognition lunch, records show.Along with citywide employee luncheons, some
departments hold their own events, costing taxpayers thousands more. In May,
Public Works paid more than $10,000 for an employee recognition barbecue, and
in September 2013 Parks spent $3,000 for its employee recognition event,
receipts obtained under state open records show.

By Kimberly Laurie
- published on 12 Aug 2015 in The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)Another Viewpoint is a column The News-Herald makes
available so all sides of issues may be aired. Kimberly Laurie is a Willoughby
resident. She is running for Lake County Commissioner. She can be reached at kimlaurie@1791.com,
KimLaurieforLakeCounty.com
or 216-245-3193First, I’d like to
commend News-Herald reporters Andrew Cass and Simon Husted for their July 31 article,
“Local Officials Refute ‘Sanctuary City’ Claims”. It’s clear that care was
taken to present both sides of the story.

Though illegal
immigration is a controversial subject, it’s vital to acknowledge that it
exists in our county in order to appropriately address it.

Despite what
officials would have us believe, the invalidity of the Matricula Consular card
is based on irrefutable fact.

The FBI researched
these cards extensively and found them to be unreliable, vulnerable to fraud,
and easily counterfeited.

In fact, the FBI’s
findings were so concerning that the Lake County Sheriff ’s Department sent the
commissioners a four-page memo citing the warning about potential dangers that
passage of the resolution presented to the citizens of Lake County.

For example,
Assistant Director of the FBI’s Office of Intelligence testified in 2003 that
“there are two major criminal threats posed by the cards, and one potential
terrorist threat: 1) The first criminal threat stems from the fact that the
Matricula Consular can be a perfect breeder document for establishing a false
identity; 2) The second criminal threat is that of alien smuggling, a crime
that has resulted in many deaths within the past year.” The memo then cites an
article from the Center for Immigration Studies which says, “The acceptance of
Mexico’s Matricula Consular sets a precedent, making it almost impossible to
reject similar cards presented by illegal aliens from other countries,
including those which have sent terrorists to the United States in the past.”

Reason would
dictate that because Matricula cards are easily forged, terrorists from other
countries could create or purchase them on their own using false identities.

The article
continues to warn that “The Matricula is becoming a shield that hides criminal
activity…”

Finally, it
addresses the campaign by the Mexican Consulate that Commissioner Daniel Troy
said was the reason he introduced and implemented the resolution, stating that
“the objective of this lobbying effort is to achieve quasilegal status for
Mexican illegals in the United States without waiting for action from
Washington.”

If the safety and
wellbeing of Lake County citizens really is the priority of our commissioners,
why was this warning from the Sheriff ’s Department ignored?

It was ignored in
2005, and it’s been ignored by subsequent commissioners since, who have all
been in positions to rescind that resolution, including current Commissioners
Judy Moran and Kevin Malecek.

Regardless of the
commissioners’ feel-good reasons to pass and then maintain this resolution,
they were negligent in their duty to research the consequences of implementing
such a policy and must be held accountable.

Editor's Note: I will admit I never heard of this until now, and I'm inclined to think this is largely true for society as a whole, so you may wish to see the history of this and the surrounding issues. Matricula Consular

Saturday, August 29, 2015

MADISON,
Wisconsin — This is what an abusive, politically motivated investigation looks
like:The sun had yet to rise when
deputies pounded on the door of Deborah
Jordahl’s home in a quiet suburb of Madison.They had a warrant, and they were coming in.Armed law enforcement officers, led by
Milwaukee County District Attorney investigator Anna Linden, proceeded to root
through the home. They hauled out computers, smart phones, paper records and an
array of “evidence” that had nothing to do with the investigation, private
possessions that weren’t listed on the sweeping warrants.

DEBORAH’S STORY:
Deb Jordahl, a Madison political consultant, was one of several Wisconsin
conservatives targeted for years in the unconstitutional John Doe probe.

Through it all,
Jordahl, her husband, and her teenage children were confined to the home’s
family room, guarded by Dane County Deputy Sheriff Linda Kohlmeyer.

“At one point
early on, I started to get up from the sofa,” Jordahl told Wisconsin Watchdog.
“I told the deputy who was guarding us that I wanted to call my lawyer. She
backed me down on the sofa and told me I could not call anyone.”

“I felt
completely helpless in my own home.”

Jordahl has had
a lot of helpless feelings since the coordinated
John Doe raids of Oct. 3, 2013, but maybe nothing compares to
watching her 15-year-old daughter, her “little girl,” sitting in her pajamas on
the living room couch, crying, as a deputy told her she could tell none of her
friends at school about that morning.

It has been
described as “Wisconsin’s shame,” and now that the John Doe investigation
is legally dead, Wisconsin and the nation are learning more about the
horrifying accounts of the political probe — from the people who lived it.

Thanks to the Wisconsin
Supreme Court’s 4-2 ruling last week, which killed the investigation
launched more than five years ago, people such as Deb Jordahl finally feel safe
to tell their stories.

That’s bad news
for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, the Democrat who launched
the John Doe, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz and the “nonpartisan” state Government Accountability Board that
worked alongside the prosecutors in targeting and, accounts like Jordahl’s
attest, intimidating dozens of conservative groups.

While O’Keefe
has publicly led the charge against the investigation and its prosecutors,
Jordahl and Johnson are telling their stories on the record for the first time.
Doing so before the Supreme Court’s ruling could have landed all three in jail,
the consequence of the John Doe’s “screamingly unconstitutional” gag order.

In fact, it
seems in January 2014 Schmitz was pushing for John Doe presiding Judge Gregory
Peterson to hold O’Keefe in contempt of court for disclosing the “existence of
his subpoena and the fact that search warrants were executed.”

Prosecutors were
keenly interested in Johnson and Jordahl, political consultants who had worked
with Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

In the Wall Street Journal piece, Johnson recounts being on a plane
when the 2013 raids went down, and that his 16-year-old son was home alone at
the time, awakened by six law-enforcement agents with guns and a warrant.

“He was told he
couldn’t move, that he couldn’t call a lawyer, that he couldn’t call his
parents. He was a minor and he was isolated by law enforcement,” Johnson told
the Journal.

“My first
reaction was incomprehension. We were baffled. We had no idea what this was
about or that this is what they do over campaign finance issues. . . . It
wasn’t until much later that we even began to understand that it was connected
to the first Doe (investigation).”

He and Jordahl
confirm what Wisconsin Watchdog in its series, “Wisconsin’s
Secret War,” recently reported: That the John Doe prosecutors were
engaged in a multi-year spying operation into conservative targets, some of whom
still do not know that they were being monitored.

Jordahl told
Wisconsin Watchdog the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office sent its
lead investigator, David Budde, to search her Madison office — without her
knowledge. The DA’s office has yet to provide an inventory of confiscated
items.

Budde could not
be reached for comment.

Chisholm did not
return Wisconsin Watchdog’s call seeking comment Thursday. He and his
assistants have not returned dozens of calls regarding the John Doe probe.

While the investigation
may be over, Jordahl says the abuse continues. She said the prosecutors
continue to mislead the public about their activities, particularly the raids.
Chisholm, Schmitz and others have downplayed their role in the raids. In fact,
Chisholm refuses to refer to the predawn operations as “raids.”

“If those
unidentified persons feel that the unidentified sheriff deputies violated their
rights in any manner, they may vindicate their rights in the proper forum,
wherever that may be,” Douglas Knott, Chisholm’s attorney, wrote in an earlier
motion.

But Milwaukee
County District Attorney investigator Anna Linden was at the raid on Jordahl’s
home, leading the activities. She signed the return warrant, according to a document obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog.

Mahoney spoke
specifically of the raid his deputies and FBI agents conducted in 2011 on the
home of former Walker aide Cindy Archer, who has since filed a civil rights
lawsuit against the prosecutors in state court.

Jordahl says she
has four witnesses — her family — who will gladly testify they were told they
could not contact their attorney while the raid was going on. It was Mahoney’s
deputy who gave that order.

The warrants
insist on secrecy.

“This John Doe
search warrant is issued subject to a secrecy order,” read the warrants,
reviewed by Wisconsin Watchdog. “By order of the court pursuant to a secrecy
order that applies to this proceeding, you are hereby commanded and ordered not
to disclose to anyone, other than your own attorney, the contents of the search
warrant and or the fact that you have received this search warrant.”

The warrants
conclude, “Violation of the secrecy order is punishable as contempt of court.”

Schmitz released
a statement saying he was disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling and
asserting that there has been “no fact-finding hearing conducted at any level
establishing, for example, that search warrants were executed unprofessionally
or that persons were denied an opportunity to contact their attorneys.”

Jordahl says the
damage from John Doe continues.

“Our rights have
been repeatedly abused and, given what we’ve learned from various lawsuits, we
may not even know the half of it,” she said. “Yet even now that the Wisconsin
Supreme Court has ended the investigation, the prosecutors continue their
assault by claiming that our accounts of the raids are not true. I cannot stand
by while they lie to media about what they did, what my children saw them do.”

Editor's Note: It never
fails – the world listens to activists who never had a job or started a
business and yet they're treated as experts on every industry in the world – industries in which they never worked
nor in which they have any practical experience! Why? Policies many of us
knew were stupid because history proclaimed their stupidity going back to the
very same policies that failed under the second dumbest President of the United
States, Jimmy Carter.What is most disturbing is they never have to
pay the penalty for being wrong. So who's going to have to pay for these
stupid failed policies promoted by green activists and their acolytes in government?
You are! In the meanwhile I recommend reading
my April 27, 2010 article, “The Activist's Bureau”, which I’ve reposted today.

Cut the Green Crap! - David Cameron has ordered ministers
to ditch the ‘green crap’ blamed for driving up energy bills and making
business uncompetitive, it is claimed. The Prime Minister, who once pledged to
lead the ‘greenest government ever’, has publicly promised to ‘roll back’ green
taxes, which add more than £110 a year to average fuel bills. But a senior Tory
source said Mr Cameron’s message in private is far blunter. The source said:
‘He’s telling everyone, “We’ve got to get rid of all this green crap.” He’s
absolutely focused on it.’ -- Daily Mail, 21 November 2013

At Last: Britain
Signals End Of Solar Subsidies - Britain’s solar boom is over
after ministers announced they would offer virtually no subsidies for people to
install panels on their homes. In a surprise move, ministers on Thursday said
that they plan to slash the amount of money given to families who put solar
panels on their homes. Under the new proposals, the amount paid to homeowners
under the “feed-in tariff” from next year will fall by nearly 90 per cent.
Critics say the scheme, which was heavily pushed by energy firms, enables
wealthy families to rake in subsidies paid for by many who are already
struggling with their energy bills. --Peter Dominiczak, The
Daily Telegraph, 28 August 2015

Europe Pulls The Plug On Its
Green Future –EU members states have spent about €600 billion ($882bn)
on renewable energy projects since 2005, according to Bloomberg New Energy
Finance. Germany’s green energy transition alone may cost consumers up to €1
trillion by 2030, the German government recently warned. These hundreds of
billions are being paid by ordinary families and small and medium-sized
businesses in what is undoubtedly one of the biggest wealth transfers from poor
to rich in modern European history. –Benny Peiser, The
Australian, 9 August 2013

Solar Panels No
Longer Viable As Britain Plans To Cull Subsidies By 87% - Householders
planning to install solar panels will receive 87pc less in subsidy payments as
ministers attempt to halt a £1.5bn overspend on renewable energy. The
Government consultation published today follows the recent axing of a £540
million taxpayer-funded scheme, the Green Deal, which gave out loans and cash
for energy-efficient home improvements. Now feed-in-tariff payments on domestic
solar panels will also be cut. The move came after Amber Rudd, energy
secretary, said “Government support has driven down the cost of renewable
energy significantly” and that renewable energy should “survive without
subsidies” due to falling costs. --Kate Palmer, The
Daily Telegraph, 27 August 2015

US Green Energy Subsidies
‘Unfair and Ineffective’, Study Finds -A University of California study
has slammed the fairness, efficiency and effectiveness of billions of dollars
of so-called green energy subsidies provided by the US government. The US
federal government has paid $US18.1 billion in tax credits since 2006 aimed at
encouraging American households to install energy-efficient windows, air
conditioning schemes, rooftop solar in their homes and buy electric and other
hybrid vehicles. The study has found the bottom 60 per cent US households by
income received about 10 per cent of the value of the four main ‘green energy’
tax credits available, while the top 20 per cent (those with annual incomes
above $US75,000) extracted 60 per cent of the benefit. “The most extreme
[example] is the program aimed at electric vehicles, where the top income
quintile received about 90 per cent of all credits,” concluded Severin
Borenstien and Lucas Davis, from the University of California, Berkeley. --Adam
Creighton, The
Australian, 12 August 2015

Obama Administration Wins Case Against
India’s Solar Subsidies - India has lost another case against the
US at World Trade Organisation as the body ruled that India's domestic content
requirements under its solar power programme were inconsistent with the
international norms. Last year, the US dragged India to WTO on country's solar
mission plan. The US alleged that India's programme appears to discriminate
against the US solar equipment by requiring solar energy producers to use
locally manufactured cells and by offering subsidies to those developers who
use domestic equipment. --Press
Trust of India, 28 August 2015

Rupert Murdoch Links Regulations,
‘Endless Climate Alarmist Nonsense’ To Financial Turmoil - Media
mogul Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter Wednesday night to weigh in on the recent
volatility in global financial markets, calling small business “the only hope
for growth” while decrying the regulatory obstacles standing in its way – and
pointing a finger at climate change “alarmist nonsense.” --David Wright, CNN, 27
August 2015

By Rich Kozlovich, originally published on April 27, 2010
and updated today

Any moronic membrane can tell the world we don’t need pesticides because being "all natural”, or "green", or "organic" is sufficient for all of mankind’s needs. No one will question their
right or their sincerity while making these emotion laden unscientific
pronouncements. Why? Because we have all been indoctrinated by what Bjorn
Lomborg calls the “litany” of the environmental movement!

By contrast, anyone who supports the use of pesticides had better watch out!

No
matter how accurately the information is presented. No matter how much
information showing how many lives pesticides save. No matter how wise, their
observations are. No matter how intelligently and logically stated their pro-pesticide
position might be - their integrity and veracity will be arrogantly challenged.
They will labeled as paid lackeys of big business and their views dismissed with
a snort and a smirk. Not with any real facts mind you, because most of what
will be heard will be unfounded personal attacks and endless debates filled
with speculation and logical fallacies to divert attention away from the facts.
This is often followed by outright lies and cited studies that never occurred
or were discredited.

Activism is philosophy without form and action without consequence for all of
these armchair philosophers who oppose the use of pesticides but aren’t
responsible to provide the protections they afford.

They simply don’t have to pay any penalty for being
wrong.

What I would like to know is why the burden of proof doesn’t rest upon those
who call for the end of pesticides instead of those that have successfully
tested the products and are saving lives on a daily basis, not to mention,
property and foodstuffs. Can we not see
the inherent danger of philosophy without form? This is a concept which
promotes change for philosophical reasons or “change for change sake”. Doesn’t
this compel us to demand that its advocates not just talk the talk, but also
actually walk the talk?

When things go down the toilet do the advocates of a certain policy pay the
price for being wrong, or are others left with the bill? While the unchallenged
and unchallengeable academicians and irresponsible activists live comfortably
in western countries endlessly expounding utter nonsense by making unscientific
claims regarding the dangers of pesticides we need to ask - who will ultimately suffer when they have
their way, and they turn out to be wrong? Is it the activists?Or is it
the poor people who have to live with the consequences of these feel good
philosophies that give activists an unjustified sense of self-righteousness?

Activists have never seen a burden so great they
would be unwilling to place on someone else’s back, demanding all sorts of
unnecessary, irrational, misanthropic and morally defective actions from society and industry.

When will the anti-pesticide fanatics put their own necks on the line for their
beliefs? When will they move to the countries they have turned into an
environmentalist’s paradise? You know the kind of place I’m talking about. The
ones where everyone has had a loved one die from some preventable disease or
have had children starve to death because environmental policies prevent them
from being able to grow enough food for their families. Of course when
environmentalists make statements like “better dead than riotously breeding”
you have the tendency to believe they have a “feel good” philosophy that is not
a “do good” philosophy.

I propose that we create a program of “Direct Involvement for Activism”, which
is an excellent check of the sincerity and integrity of environmental
activists. They can now have the joy of seeing their handy work up close and
personal. This is their opportunity to step up where others have failed.
This is a great opportunity for them to prove their integrity.

Stop crying wolf to the press and go to these third world "paradises" they have created
where child mortality is staggeringly high, insect borne diseases
are the rule and not the exception, where the water is contaminated and life is
short and miserable. This way they can be directly responsible for the health and welfare of
thousands, or maybe millions of people.

Step away from the common herd of
activists, as this is the chance of a life time! This is a chance to be different than those wimpy
protesters. They can take on the responsibility to care for millions, and prove via firsthand experience they
are as truly special as they think. And
when they leave should show just how confident, sincere and committed they are
by taking their children with them. What an opportunity! Now they won’t just be talking about what we
are all doing wrong, they can make their mark by showing what we are all doing
wrong, by showing the rest of us how it’s "supposed" to be done.

Putting themselves and their families on the line will
certainly impress me, and I’m willing to accept their sacrifices if it turns out
they were wrong.

Eventually their moment of truth will come. The people for whom they’ve taken
on the responsibility of their well being - who are now starving to death - can be ordered
to stay away from the genetically modified food because they need to give
environmentalism a chance. For that brief, shining moment, they will have the
pleasure of knowing that they stood up for their principles. That is of course
just before their “followers” bust them right in the head on the way to the warehouse.
If they’re willing to send the poor third worlders off to die in order to feel
good about themselves, surely they must be willing to stand there and defend
their latest philosophical flavor of the day! Shouldn't they?

Let’s see now......how many volunteers do we have?

Thomas Sowell, the nationally syndicated columnist noted “The media continue to
take seriously, and provide free publicity for, people who call themselves
"consumer advocates" or "environmentalists," even though
there are no qualifications required for these roles. All it takes are a big
mouth, a big ego, a disdain for inconvenient facts and an ignorance of
economics.”

He comments further, “I wish that some way could be found to add up all the
staggering costs imposed on millions of ordinary people, just so a relative
handful of self-righteous environmental cultists can go around feeling puffed
up with themselves.” He goes on to say, “It is bad enough that so many people
believe things without any evidence. What is worse is that some people have no
conception of evidence and regard facts as just someone else's opinion.”

I guess the real problem I have with activism is it isn't - REGULATED! And of course after being regulated there will be required testing and licensure to make sure they have been properly trained and know what they're talking about, and taxed just as any other industry. Now before they protest we will know they have met some basic
requirements.

Here is an example as to how to do this. They must demonstrate they have a
track record of success in the area they are protesting. Perhaps we can set up
an “Activist’s Bureau” in each state, where they will have to register and show their federally mandated license to protest before they are
allowed to protest. Under this arrangement they must meet the following
regulated criteria.

Require protesters at the various business conferences to have started their
own successful companies before we allow them actively involve themselves in
public protests of others businesses. Having started businesses that failed
will not count.

Require animal rights activists to start businesses that require them to feed
the world or develop medicines without the use of animals. Having failed will
be a disqualifer for this person as an activist.

Require anti-energy protesters to start businesses that provide
electricity to millions of people without any of the means currently being
used and without government funding of any kind. Nor will presenting future possible inventions that may possibly be
invented at some future possible date count as a qualification to protest.

Anti-pesticide activists must be operating a successful business that
provides the following;

·Actual protection from disease carrying pests
without using registered or non-registered pesticides or chemicals in general

·Provide
protection for homes without using registered or non-registered pesticides or
chemicals in general against all the things we currently provide services for.

·Must be able to grow enough food to meet the
same capacity that is currently enjoyed in this country.

·This must be done with the same amount of
landmass without fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.

·This all must be accomplished without grant
money from any source or tax incentives of any kind from the government.

·Not meeting these criteria will disqualify the
person as a registered activist with the “Activists Bureau”.

If they meet the qualifications and are successful in
the protest against any company or system the activists must be willing to
undertake to provide the same service, product or whatever else it is they may have
destroyed.

·This must be done without using any of the means
they have protested against.

·Failure to protect, feed or provide the services
promised by the activist will require the activist to be liable to criminal
and/or civil litigation.

·Failure to be willing to meet this final
requirement will require them to “just be quiet.”

Truth is the sublime convergence of history and reality. If what we're presented fails in either of these categories it's wrong. These "unregulated" activists fail in both!

Colon Cancer Risk Reduced with Common
Pain Relievers - A new study links
long-term, continuous use of common painrelievers (NSAIDs and aspirin) to a
reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study does not prove a
cause-and-effect benefit, and these drugs can cause bleeding, so discuss with
your doctor. Read more.

Bee Wary of Tales of the
'Beepocalypse' - Bees die. A lot. They die
in the winter and summer. Sometimes they die in one area, like they did in
2006. Why? Well, it could be stress. Or that beekeeping has become a fad, where
amateurs are bungling their backyard hive. So there's mounting evidence that
the so-called "Beepocalypse" is not to be Bee-lieved. Read more.

Will Sugar Substitute Psychos LikePsicose? - There's a new sugar substitute
called allulose (aka psicose), with properties that could make it a very
popular, non-caloric sweetener. But it must be manufactured. It'll be
interesting to see how psicose will be received by the anti-sugar substitute
psychos. Read more.

Rating Doctors Like PCs: Bad Idea
Needing a Reboot - A new trend among
health care systems is posting patient evaluations of staff physicians, or
"doctor report cards." A bad idea. Professional qualities of care,
knowledge and compassion (much less outcomes) are not amenable to Yelp-like
reviews, as if doctors were personal computers on sale.Read more.

2 New Alzheimer's Studies Show
Disappointing Results - Simple
lifestyle interventions are a tempting target to stave off cognitive decline
and Alzheimer's disease. Sadly, two new studies appearing in JAMA show no
discernible benefit from exercise activity nor from omega-3 or vitamin
supplementation. Read more.

Clearing Itself, EPA Again Weakens
Public's Trust - First, the EPA bungled the
mine disaster in Colorado, polluting a beloved river. Now, it's getting even
tougher to believe its officials, when earlier this week the agency announced
that an internal investigation of a separate matter cleared itself of
wrongdoing. Read more.

About Me

Green is a mixture of blue and yellow. That is the only factual definition of green that will stand the test of time. After that; any other definition is a corruption of a perfectly nice color. I have been an exterminator for 35 years. I have served as a trustee on industry association boards representing pesticide and fertilizer applicators actively for almost 25 years. I believe that what we do isn't just a job; it's a mission! We are that thin gray line that mans the wall telling the world; "no one will harm you on my watch". I also believe that to be green is to be irrational, misanthropic and morally defective. They are the barbarians at the gate we have to stand against. Our greatest worry is those within who support and facilitate their misanthropic goals.